Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

The Saturday night shuffle for second through fourth ended with Hank Scott 1141 passing Mike Kidd 1721 and Steve Eklund 1111. A MA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series- Rounds 22/2 Brow, Hank Scott score, Eklund s By Jack Mangus Photos by Bert Shepard and Gary Van Voorhis INDIANAPOLIS . IN . AUG. 26·27 Garth Brow and Hank Scott continued their domination of Camel Pro Series mile racing as each scored a runaway win in the weekend's doubleheader of mile racing at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Joining Brow in the winner's circle Saturday night were runnerup Hank Scott and third place finisher Steve Eklund. Scott and 6 . Brow swapped p laces Sunda y afternoon and Ted Boody joined the pa ir via his third place performance, While neither main event produced the usual Indy Mile fireworks . hea t and semi act ion and events su rr ounding the Nationals did. Bill Kennedy debu ted h is Am ericcan motorcycle in AMA racing , but a rocker ann problem en d ed R ickey Campbell 's ri d e moments after it started in Saturday's practice and Roger Crump failed to qualify his American. Terry Plerch claimed Corky Keener's ' factory Harley -Davidson following Sunday's National. Pletch's $6.500 purchase infuriated Keener, Bill Boyce of the AMA threatened to suspend both riders if they didn't back . off du ring a heated discussion of the cla im . Only Keene r and Randy Goss counter-claimed as a vicious storm hit the fai rgrounds moments after the race . scattering everyone in its fury . The weekend was a frustrating one for Grand National Champion Jay Springs~een; . He failed 1 0 _ make the National on Saturday night. and aft er scratching from the Trophy Race he climbed the announcer's platform and watched Steve Eklund pick up third place points . On Sunday afternoon Springer had a bet ter view of the action as he finished sevent h , two . places behind Eklund. The two strong finishes of Eklund's moved him 17 points ahead of Springsteen in th e point standings, 258 to 24 I. Saturday Time Trials Hank SCOtt, aboard a Carl Pa trick Harley-Davidson, turned in fast time in qualifying with a 38 .371. The surprise of the qualifying session was Jackie Mitchell's second fastest time of 38 .708. . also on Carl Patrick equipment. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were Garth Brow , Lance Jones . Mike Kidd, Steve Eklund. Ted Boody, Corky Keener. Gary Scott and Terry Poovey. Cutoff time was 40.374. Heats Hank Scott won the initial heat with a comfortable lead over a battle for second between New Mexico 's Joe Wilson and Texan Mike Kidd . Wilson, like Hank SCOtt and Jackie Mitchell, was aboard a Carl Patrick prepared XR, and he and Kidd had the packed house screaming. The pair exchanged the runner-up spot on every lap following a th ird lap breakup of a four -man fight for that spot. Phil McDonald and Gary SCOtt had been mixing it up with Wilson and Kidd, but McDonald went down in turn three, uninjured. and later put the blame on Gary SCOtt. Whatever. the incident dropped SCOtt to fourth where he finished the race behind his brother Hank, Wilson and Kidd. The second heat brought the crowd ba ck to a near frenzy as Jackie Mitchell and Steve Ek lund tu rned in on e helluva race. They rode all lOlaps virt ually side -by-side , and they crossed the finish line under the checkers the same wa y with the nod go ing to Mitchell. The early laps of the rac e saw a five-man figh t for th ird between Terry Poovey, Gene Romero , Springsteen and Phil Darcy. Poovey took the final transfer position to the National and th e others were 'sem i bound. Garth Brow unleashed all the horsepower of his Mert Lawwill XR in the third heat and opened up a straightaway lead by checkered flag time. Taking second and third were Steve Morehead and Ted Boody. The final heat went to Rookie of the Year candidate Lance Jones. Jones , the 1977 Cycle News East Rider o~ the Yea r , took over the lead on the backstraight on lap one and was never headed. Trailing him and advancing into the National were Corky Keener and Randy Goss. Sem is The first semi was the race of the night - make that the race of the weekend. Former Grand National Champions Gene Romero and Gary Scott hooked up with the current champ, Jay Springsteen and put on a demonstration of mile racing at its finest. The three were never more than a bikelength apart as they ~arried ~>n a

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